His Name is Simon
by lenkenobi583
Summary: What if the events of the first episode, Serenity, went down a little differently? Simon takes a bullet for Mal changing the course of the relationship. MalSimon.


His Name is Simon

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Chapter One

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Mal grabs Simon -- and everybody's shouting –

Mal figures this rich brat isn't worth someone on his crew; someone is cares about getting hurt.

"Just take the kid!" he shouts, grabbing Simon from behind.

"Get your hands off me,"

"Stand the hell down, Captain."

Dobson moves closer to the Captain and Simon, his gun still raised.

"Tam. Open the cryo!" the fed demanded.

"No!" Simon yelled, fighting against Mal's grip.

"Son, I would do what the lawman wants."

Dobson lowered his gun.

"Captain, I won't report you or any of your crew for transferring an outlaw if just hold the boy and do what I say." The lawman proposed.

"I don't take orders from alliance scum…"

Dobson turned from the captain and pointed his gun towards Kaylee who had just walked in with Jayne.

"Maybe I'll just shoot her then."

Mal screamed, "NO!" The lawman turned towards him. "No, I'll h-help you. Just leave mine alone."

Dobson walks back to the Captain and holds his gun under Simon's chin.

"You just hold him nice and tight, Captain and none of yours get hurt."

"Deal." Mal muttered.

"Open the box."

Mal lead Simon over to it and watched the shaking kid tap in his code.

"Please help me..." he whispered. His voice was shaky.

"Sorry kid." Mal didn't know what this kid had done to the Alliance but he had made them angry, "Did you off your family for the fortune or something?"

"Shut up!" Dobson yelled, pushing Simon and Mal away from the box. He shoved the top off. Mal expected drugs, expensive jewelry but all he saw was a girl. She was a young girl naked, curled into a tight ball.

The law man reached his hands in the box and started pulling her out.

"Get your hands off her!" Simon wrenched himself from Mal's grip and tired to pull Dobson away from the girl. Dobson let go of the girl and pushed Simon to the ground.

"I know what you did for your sister, Simon. I understand. But Simon how long did you think you can hide."

Mal looked at the girl who was breathing loudly. The girl was Simon's sister. Why would he keep his sister in a box?

"She's isn't your sister anymore. She belongs to the Alliance."

Simon slowly rose off the floor. "She'll always be my sister."

"You were the best doctor in the core. Why give that up for a girl that doesn't even know you exist-", Dobson was cut off by the girl's screaming. Mal backed away from her and walked towards his crew. How he got into this mess was beyond him!

The girl is still screaming, when she crawls out of the cryo-chamber.

"Shut her up." Dobson orders Simon, "And none of you move."

"River?" Simon weakly asks. The girl named River looks left to right but not directly at Simon. She continues to whimper as Simon takes her in his arms.

"River. It's okay. It's okay, meimei. It's Simon. Simon. Your brother." He repeats until she looks at him. She looks at everyone then back to him.

"Simon? Simon... They-they talk to me, they want me-they want me to talk..."

"They're gone... they're gone. We're safe..." Simon holds her close.

Everyone is silent. The crew is respecting this moment that is broken by Mal muttering, "Like hell your safe."

Wash voice boomed overhead. "Captain, we've been hailed by a Cruiser. Ordered to stay on course and dock for prisoner transfer."

Simon holds his sister tight as Dobson walks towards them.

"Now we have a problem Simon. River is a secret. She must stay that way."

Mal watched the fed whisper in Simon's ear as he held the gun to Simon's head.

As Dobson finished whispering he walked away from the Tams.

"Captain, I was telling Simon that I have a way to keep your crew from telling anyone about them." He smiled.

"Let us go on our merry way." Mal smiled nervously. He locked eyes with Zoe to his left and then Jayne, both with their hands ready to grasp their guns. When he looked back at the fed and his gun was pointed at Mal. Simon slowly pulled away from his sister and stood out of the fed eyesight.

"Kill the captain, of course."

"NO!"

The Mal watched the fed pull the trigger and heard the gunshot clear as day. He closed his eyes knowing the gun shots that followed were from his crew.

When Mal felt no pain he thought that the stupid fed must have missed. He opened his eyes and saw Simon standing in front of him.

"Doc?"

The doctor tired to turn and face him but collapsed to the ground.

"Simon!" Kaylee screamed.

Mal watched Kaylee run to the wounded man. He saw the fed on the ground and blood everywhere. The girl was screaming her head off.

"Mal!" he heard Wash yelling.

"Change course." He murmured than yelled, "CHANGE COURSE!!"

Zoe runs to the comm. and hits it, "Wash, change course and go for hard burn. We're runnin',"

Mal walked to the boy and Kaylee. She was crying hard while holding his shoulder down. Blood covered his shirt and her hand.

Mal knelt next to him and calmly moved Kaylee's hand, "Meimei, let me see."

He started unbuttoning Simon's shirt and realized the wound was in his shoulder. He ripped his shirt at the entry point.

"Kaylee, go open the infirmary door!"

Kaylee ran it the door and shoved it open. Mal gathered Simon in his arms, easily carrying him to the infirmary.

"River."

"I need you quiet, doc." He replied as he laid the doctor on the bed.

"Please, captain. I want...River."

Mal looked behind him to the girl and saw Zoe's had wrapped her in Inara's cloak. He saw Inara approaching him with a needle.

"You can talk to your sister later, doc. We need to sow this up before-"

"No...please. Give me to the feds...not River, please...not River."

Inara handed him the needle and he didn't need to ask what it was.

"Shh. Don't worry, Simon."

Simon reached up and grabbed Mal by the arm, stopping him from injecting him.

"Please promise me you'll keep her safe! Please!"

"I-I promise."

Mal pulled his arm away and injected Simon. He watched his eyes slowly close his he murmured. "R-River..."

Mal sighed and looked to Inara who had the thread and needle ready. She gave him a look of confusion.

"How could you promise him that Mal?"

"I don't know."

Mal looked at Simon pale, sleeping and calm face.

"I promise." Mal whispered.

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End Chapter One

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